Card Suit Settlement Not Sitting Well With Some Institutions

ARLINGTON, Va. – TCF Corporation, a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based bank that only issues debit cards has filed a 16-page motion with the judge presiding over the recent settlement between card-giant VISA and MasterCard and retailers. As part of the suit’s settlement, VISA and MasterCard agreed to modify they controversial `honor all cards’ rule and to cut their debit card’s interchange rate by roughly one third. According to the reports, TCF is objecting to the interchange cut, stating that VISA was not representing its best interest in the settlement and contending that the agreement represents “price fixing” on the part of the card associations. No one from TCF was available to comment for this report, but David John, a banking and legal analyst for the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, called the news of the suit a small cloud on the horizon of the settlement, and not a major concern. “It’s a very high stakes game they are playing,” John said. “Yes, if they can show that the settlement would really damage them, they can ask the judge to take the concerns into account. But the judge doesn’t have to do so, and this judge is known to be in favor of a settlement,” he added.